London – Charedi Leadership Challenges Credibility Of Child Abuse Cover-up Story On British TV

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    The news show “Dispatches” secretly taped the leader of Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations, Rabbi Ephraim Padwa, instructing a man not to go to the police to complain about child abuse he had suffered in Stamford Hill. Rabbi Padwa warned the man that such a complaint would constitute “messira” – informing on a fellow Jew to the gentile authorities.London – In response to recent claims made by a British television documentary that the Ultra-Orthodox community routinely attempts to cover-up cases of child sex abuse, London’s Haredi leadership now questions whether the story has done more harm than good.

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    The Times of Israel (http://bit.ly/11olPak) is reporting that a spokesman for the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations has challenged the credibility of the program due to its reliance on anonymous and unreliable sources.

    Among those featured in Channel 4’s “Britain’s Hidden Child Abuse” are an anonymous rabbi (whose face is not shown) who recalls a case in which a family has been ostracized and forced to relocate after reporting their case to authorities; two unidentified young men who now claim to have taken up ‘vigilanteism’ after their claims were ignored by rabbis; and a young man whose claims have been reported , thoroughly investigated, and subsequently dropped by local authorities.

    Below the 40 minute investigation by Ch. 4.

    The Haredi spokesman reaffirmed the community’s awareness of its responsibility to protect its children and spoke proudly about current policies within the community’s schools, before finally offering up hope that Channel 4’s attempts to defame the community would not adversely affect future victims from coming forward.

    Yaakov Wise, an expert on British Haredim from the Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Manchester, also criticized the report for not having thoroughly enough examined the root causes as to why some cases might not be reported to authorities.

    Wise pointed to the increasing alienation of the Haredi community in Britain as one possible cause, citing a growing distrust within the community of current law enforcement’s ability to properly handle cases in a ‘sensitive’ manner. He also said that differing opinions on reporting case s within the Orthodox world make the handling of each case unique.

    Questions forwarded to Channel 4 by The Times of Israel were unanswered.


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    32 Comments
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    Anon Ibid Opcit
    Anon Ibid Opcit
    11 years ago

    Of course they are. This exposed weakness and evil in the Community and made them look bad. They are hurt and frightened, so they lash out.

    MidwesternGuy
    MidwesternGuy
    11 years ago

    Criticizing the investigators rather than addressing the underlying issue doesn’t fool anyone.

    JohnDoe
    JohnDoe
    11 years ago

    ‘Questions forwarded to Channel 4 by The
    Times of Israel were unanswered.’

    Of course, That’s the job of the media today, to come come up with dramatic sensations even it’s unbiased on facts at all, the same as we recently saw a innocent jew, R’ Nechmye Weberman get a 103 years for a one-person-based agenda-driven story based on hate and revenge.

    11 years ago

    There is annother reason not often mentioned why accusers should not be allowed to run directly to the cops. In our close knit society where there is alot of intercation unfortunatly there is also alot more machlokes. It is very easy for someone to ruin the other guys life for revenge.So you have alot more people looking to find revenge against someone coupled together with the fact that stories are easier to fabricate due to the close knit nature in our community which can = disaster therefore you CANNOT just run to the authorities

    monalisa
    monalisa
    11 years ago

    My sister is a principal in London. She goes straight to the authorities every single time, doesn’t waste a minute. She personally has taken kids home rather than let a child go home to face more abuse & they wait for the authorities to get round to a placement. Sometimes it has taken days. She’s been threatened, harassed & called all sorts of disgusting names. She’s had angry fathers show up at her house threatening to hurt her and her family, even trying to hit her. She’s 5’2″, weighs 100lb sopping wet & NEVER backs down. She is famous in London for advocating for “her” children. I’m so proud of her. There should be more like her, especially over here.

    JamesDean
    JamesDean
    11 years ago

    The anonymous Rabbi that is quoted would not have been half as believable if Rabbi Padwa would have said something different. As we attempt to ensure that case are handled in a “sensitive manner”, we are failing to protect our most precious assets. We need a better way.

    md2205
    md2205
    11 years ago

    I think that the fear of giving a bad name to the community is justified, because when the media reports a child molester who appears Orthodox, they make sure to mention that he is Orthodox. If they report about child abuse from an ethnic group, they don’t report what that ethnic group is. If they report about a Catholic or Protestant who abuses children, they don’t mention their religion. Only the Orthodox Jew.

    However, this reality does not justify hiding the crime. When an article comes out mentioning the Orthodox, people should comment and fire right back at the media that all groups of people have their rotten apples, and by mentioning the Orthodox group, or that the person involved is Orthodox, that shows how biased the media is toward this group. Let those in the media see how biased they are against the Orthodox and consider that they should not mention the group along with the crime.

    11 years ago

    This is an example of one of the destructive aspects of some of our more insular communities in that the resolve to produce the desired result of true yiddishkeit interferes with the sectioning of communities that have already sectioned themselves off but deny that such sectioning took place.

    PaulinSaudi
    PaulinSaudi
    11 years ago

    Well, I could believe the Rabbis, or the BBC. All in all, the smart money is all betting one way on this one.

    11 years ago

    I think its discusting to video a private discussion. This “so called Rabbi” asking advice from rav Padva got his advice… now do what you feel is right…. publishing it is simply dispicable!~

    motti1977
    motti1977
    11 years ago

    To you all…it was “Channel 4” not the “BBC” that aired the documentary!!!

    11 years ago

    Today it’s about child abuse
    Tommorrow it will be about money.
    Then they will continue onto our Yeshivos etc. etc.

    The media will always be after people who look different, act different, and follow a Shulchan Aruch that has totally different laws.

    11 years ago

    In Russia when the government was arresting one Jew after another (most never made it out alive).
    The government used fellow religious Jews to report other Jews.

    Eventually Russia succeeded that only a very small percentage of the Jewish population remained Frum (and alive).

    11 years ago

    I have seen many similiar kinds of video documentry against Israel.

    A naive person watching the documentry would think that Israel our of hatered are running into palistinian territory and killing inocent people.

    11 years ago

    I personally contacted CBS radio station why they have so much coverage over Hassidic molesters and ignore thousands of molestations by non Jews each year,

    I also asked why when they report a “black” or “hispanic” molester they never identify the molester by race or religion, why by Hassidim they do?

    I received no answer.

    I_Am_Me
    I_Am_Me
    11 years ago

    We need to all accept that while anti-semitism is alive & well (unfortunately) & that there are many self hating Jews (unfortunately) there are molesters in our midst & not everyone being accused is innocent and not everyone is guilty. This has, in fact, been swept under the rug way to many times & for way to long, so yes it will take awhile for us to weed out the good guys from the bad. The only way to make it go smoother & not take so long to daven & to help our authorities find, prosecute and jail the bad guys. In this way you’re helping end chilul Hashem, helping your innocent fellow Yid & saving our children from the monstors.